Dame Dash Slams Kanye For Being Disloyal

Remember when Dame Dash was on Instagram, putting nameless people on blast for turning their backs on Roc-A-Fella records co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke? Remember when it was believed he was talking about Jay Z? As it turns out, Dame was talking about Kanye West-Kardashian.

The arrogant entrepreneur named names during a recent appearance on Shade 45. Dame says Kanye hasn’t done not a damn thing for Biggs since the Roc’s silent partner was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 for conspiring to move 100 kilos (220 pounds) of marijuana. According to Dame, Ye owes Biggs because it was him who initially saw something special in the Kardashian member.

“I’m a little tight with Kanye because he hasn’t reached out to Biggs. I don’t like that shit. So, Kanye…holla at me. I don’t like that shit terribly. I’m being clear. I don’t like it.

“Biggs was the one that was like, ‘Yo, Dame! Pay attention to what Kanye’s doing. Make sure you send him that music.’ No one’s reaching back. Certain niggas have, that’s why I’m not calling everybody out, but Kanye hasn’t. And he hasn’t checked on his kids, he hasn’t checked on his family. No trial. And the shit I’m hearing him complain about is irrelevant based on the fact that he doesn’t look back to the people that helped him. So period…until he hollar at me… we gotta have a conversation. Period.”

Well that’s a bit fuckboy-ish of Kanye…if true.

Dame also gives free advice to up-and-coming artists. The man who made Jay Z says ditch the entitlement, build a digital foundation, tour your ass off and sell a shitload of merchandise.

“I’d do everything myself. It’s direct to consumer. You got Instagram, Twitter, you got your website. You can just sell directly. Cut the middle man out and stop expecting people to do stuff for you. The internet is the way. Everywhere you trying to be, they trying to get out of that. Everyone on television, radio is trying to transition into digital, so build your foundation on digital.

“As far as artists go, they just don’t get that the way you make money is your show and your merch. You got a video out? That shit don’t mean nothing. You got a hit record? That shit don’t mean nothing. If you can’t get people in a room, you’re not getting paid.

“Look at all the people who keep putting out records and getting money. They always doing shows! That’s how they eat. So the longer you do it consistently, the bigger your audience gets. So you look at a Jay or a Beyonce… they been doing it for 20 years straight. So they can perform in front of anything cause they never stop and they stay on the road.

“Everything is about that show. That’s what I taught Kanye when I put him on that fuckin’ private jet and flew him to fuckin’ London, but he still haven’t sent nothing to Biggs so I don’t understand why he’s doing that cause Biggs is the one who told me, ‘Look out for this nigga.'”

Watch below.

Correction: “Unloyal” is not a word. Disloyal is. If you’re looking for Word, Word can be found nose-first in the corner.

I mean, Kanye does know that Biggs did that right? Someone actually, y’know, told him. Right?

Cause I know lots of people who catch feelings strictly off someone doing something “shady” that they didn’t even know they were doing.

However, I do have to say I agree…with reservations…with Dame re: Yeezy’s recent complaints and shenanigans. Look at where you ended up, Ye. Look at where you could have ended up. Show some gratitude…even a little. It’ll make people feel better.

Now, while Damon is out here pulling peoples cards, can he PLEASE come and get his cousin? She is WILDING.

Stacey ain’t even listening to him, bruh. She side eyes ALL BLACK MEN that ain’t hardcore GOP. and i’m not even sure that being GOP helps… she just shades blackfolk hard… some dude musta done her dirty or something.

Sometimes getting someone to take your money is a favor in itself …don’t sleep Kanye is clearly the biggest rap influence of the past ten or so years but he works hard to show the world he is fugazi time and time again oh well

gtfoh. dame, biggs, and definitely jayz didnt pay attention to kanye cuz they thought he was a great guy and they wanted to do him a favor. they did it cuz they thought he could earn for them.
only in hiphop does a story like this even get attention. idk if other genres have this petty shit. dame if its that much of a fuckin issue, put it in the contract next time that this person is your friend for life cuz you gave him the opportunity to make you a shit load more money.

You’ll never see this in other genres because only in hip-hop do guys wearing suits that cost more than some people get paid in two months and driving cars that cost more than some people’s houses still think it’s sane–nevermind reasonable–to still live “by the street code”.

All that hood/street shit applies until you get the fuck out, then you running shit by the same laws these white folks are, so you need to pay attention to what’s going on around you.

Funny… I dunno what Kanye “owes” Biggs at this point. If you’re really tight with someone then I can see reaching out, but Kanye’s never struck me as a dude out to share credit for his success when anyone he deems not on his level. So other than showing Jay-Z respect, who else has Kanye ever really been like “this cat put me on”?

Listening to Dame now almost sounds like those old DeHaven and Jaz-O interviews swearing Jay owes them. They might’ve been right in their claims some extent, but unless you can show some sort of theft of intellectual property or some kinda issues involving ASCAP or publishing then they don’t have much to stand on beyond but reveling in your war stories?

Some of this comes down to a romanticized sense of “family business”. All those mafia movies had young brothers thinking they can do business on handshakes and street politics when they really needed to get things in writing, dot the i’s and cross the t’s on legit contracts.

We can be boys and come up together, but when it comes to be business, the best thing we can do for each other is be professional—explain to each other what services we’re providing, who’s investing what and agree on equitable compensation all the way around.

That’s an issue that seems to be a problem with alotta cats, particularly in Rap/R&B. Your crew needs to be professional. Put stuff in writing. Sign contracts drafted by actual lawyers. Know what you’re signing.

And study business beyond misquoting Robert Greene’s psychotic amoral ass or Sun Tzu, Jay-Z or some ish.

Kanye made dame, hov and biggs a lot of money, thats a huge thank you for the faith you showed him. Aint no one tell biggs to keep peddling weed in 20xx. I knew dame would come for yeezy any day now. @Black Canseco you right he does sounds just like dehaven and jaz hatin asses

Dame is spot on about his advice beyond one thing that no one is catching:

The labels once were in control and paid pennies on the dollar. Now, Silicon Valley controls the music. Streaming apps, YouTube – even download sites in which you purchase/download, subscribe to, or stream music, legally, such as iTunes, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Spotify, Beats Music, etc., etc., on and on. They dictate and are now in control. Artists used to complain about labels – you now have startups (STARTUPS!) with 40-50 million seeding taking on digital distribution and well known and solidified multi-billion dollar tech corporations currently controlling things. And guess what? Whereas record companies were in the business of, oh you know, knowing music well/somewhat/at least (depending upon the specific label and executives it housed)… these guys are tech geeks only worried about profit. They may listen to music, but could not tell you a hit from a flop with a gun pointed to their heads. iTunes has no A&R department. You once, if deciding not to go the “out of the trunk” route, had to have someone at a label say you were worth signing. Perhaps that was not a perfect situation, as many talented musicians never were signed. But what is worse (and again, what no one is realizing) is that now, anyone can have their music in every digital distributors’ store mentioned above – even if it is absolute garbage and the person cannot sing, rap, produce, etc. You pay a fee… they make it available for download. That is the equivalent of those old modeling schools (young folks have no idea what I am talking about) where anyone could be a “model” – all they had to do was pay.

So now, everyone is an artist and they feel good about that when they really should not. They get to brag – “I’m on iTunes! Buy my new single/album on iTunes!” (You know you see that wack ish all over Twitter – I see the numbers, these cats are selling 10 downloads, TOTAL). They want to floss, as if it holds any merit at all. Why boast in such a way when ANYONE can do the same if they pay? Traditional music distributors? If you could not show them your music was selling… they would not carry your single, EP, or album. You could perhaps get a local M&P to carry it on consignment (and if it sat for too long, guess what, they would ask you to come pick it up), but distributors were not taking it on because if it was not moving units – i.e. consumers were not asking for it… all that it was doing was taking up space in their warehouse.

This new distribution method is absolutely horrible for the artist first AND industry. People who know nothing about music, the music you love and consume, are in control of it. But the young cats do not realize it and honestly, to someone like myself, look like imbeciles. It is actually worse than the old 4080 scheme.

Two more things and I am out:

1. I remember having a conversation with Chuck D once technology had advanced to the point of selling music via the Internet/digitally (I believe I have previously mentioned this). It sounded perfect – in theory – no more labels paying you pennies per album. You could charge $4-$6 for an album (when they had a retail price point of $20+ at the time) and make pure profit. His exact words were that “you cut out the middleman.” But none of us could foresee the guys behind what you needed in order for it to happen… the tech guys (do you know how much bandwidth cost back then – no one realized you had to factor that into the budget either – bandwidth has never been free), Napster and folks devaluing the importance of supporting music, monetarily, even at such an affordable great deal and value. People will not pay for what they do not have to. Which is why touring still works (and leads me to my next point).

2. I had an artist, whom if I revealed their name, you would instantly all know. They came to me, a year ago, basically broke. Their songs were all over radio; they were on their way to RIAA ALBUM (not single but ALBUM) certification and a plaque (they had platinum and gold singles). They had songs all in the Top Ten of Billboard – 2 or 3 had even reached Number 1. They had about 50K at the most in the bank. They were grinding. I told them to keep writing (publishing counts no matter what anyone tries to tell you – I still receive checks from a decade+ ago, on a quarterly basis, across the board) for other artists, doing features (that is cash upfront), and most of all… if they REALLY wanted to start making money and were not afraid of no sleep and 3-4 days off every 3-4 months… to start booking club dates non-stop. Their label was not doing any of this for them (which is a shame because it is a major, but that is how the game goes when you are simply recouping and not making a profit). They started to finally see some money… but were horrible at budgeting it so they stayed in that 50K range. I talked to a friend… they went on a real tour… and came off of it a millionaire. It was A LOT of hard work and no days off. They spent half of the year touring, writing for themselves and others… but my plan worked because touring will ALWAYS work. People may not be willing to pay for your album when they can cop it for free on the Internet, but you let them come within 4 hours drive to your town and they will pay to see you live if you give a good show.

And that is why I have come to hate this industry that raised me. Some cat who writes code now controls how much you get paid for what you created? Nah. No thanks.

My first guess would’ve been Cole, but he always toured. I think. Maybe. lol

On a serious note, I know you said these electronic distribution centers don’t have A&R’s and anyone can get their distributions just by paying a fee, but is there any real artist development going on at these major labels? Are these labels taking the time, money & training to build an artist into something special?

If not, then “cutting out the middle” would make on difference then. Even if a person is independent and selling their music on iTunes with no physical distribution or radio/video/national support, it’s still up to the consumer to bite. If we don’t, the “artist” would fade away.

Even with Epic signing Bobby Shmurda, i’m willing to be they are gonna let him be like AI; give him the ball and let him cook. Funny thing is, I think they’ve jumped the gun on signing him. He was a trendy dance, and a interesting video; it’s it. It’ll be interesting to see if they make him a formidable artist.

@ADrake22 Artist development rarely exists anymore (when it once was a staple and requirement to success – i.e. Motown and even Bad Boy, whom Puffy borrowed the blueprint from). The reason why is because the longer an artist is developing, the more likely a label is losing money (in almost the majority of instances). Technology also plays a part in this dying art – labels must keep up with this adaptation and change in the creation and distribution of music. They cannot afford to compete with an artist who can drop a song or mixtape at any time. The label’s investment gets lost. Time is money.

“Cutting out the middleman” makes a difference because it actually, does not exist. The digital distributors charge you to put up your music in their online store, then on top of that, take a percentage of each download… or pay next to nothing in royalties for streaming. So in essence, all of the companies named are the middlemen – people simply do not realize it. In previous dealings with traditional distribution of physical media (cassettes, vinyl, CD), no distributor charged you to carry or take on your music. They took a small cut (in my dealings, a VERY small cut) of each unit sold or upfront in COD deals. I rarely did P&D deals. But even when I did, I still was profiting 70%. In distribution only, I was in the 80/20 club. So do I see this new form of how music is consumed, legally, with regards to sales as better? Not even close. You made more money in the past. That is why touring, merch, endorsements and features (to artists whom are not friends), etc., is your only option to make money now. If anyone tells you that it is better now they are:

a) Very rich and therefore it does not apply to them. They honestly cannot comprehend it because of this fact. They are already paid and will never run out of money. These outlets are an extra check to them from catalogs of their old work – so what do they care? Spotify wants you to sign-off? Check, “Yes” (box and bank account). Someone who has never been an addict always has the answers for the person who is… so do “certain” individuals when it comes to their stance that racism does not exist. Or how about the politicians whom always have the answer to our nation’s woes and our President when they never have been in the position – even George W. Bush has defended POTUS many times when asked about the criticism he has received during his terms. It is easy to discard truths when something does not apply to you.
b) New to the industry and never experienced the old model. There will never be another deal like Cash Money got (initially 30-35 million from Universal, then 100 million when the initial contract was up) or even Organized Noize when piracy started to mess with numbers (20 million)… or even Puffy getting 10 million from Clive Davis to start Bad Boy. These artists are signing for 1-2 million at the top end (and the contracts are for an insane amount of albums owed, are structured like an NFL contract – you do not pocket that money all at once… and it is for a HUGE amount of what the label should never have a percentage of). That says it all.

It is easy to see. The ones whose tour game is strong… are the only ones winning. You once could eat (and we are talking about a feast) off of sales alone. Those days are long gone.

@Patrique I love Bandcamp. It simply gets overlooked. People willing to spend money on music… it is not their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 5th or 6th option. It is the one I support above all, however others do not even realize it has a paid download option. Most assume it is for free downloads due to its streaming and [if they even care to look further] variable pricing.

@Athrin With more aggression lol – yes – and I would agree with him. Consumers always wanted to blame the labels for their pirating… it was simply a way to justify it. “Record companies don’t pay their artists anyway so I’m not hurting anyone by downloading for free.” People like that just wanted free music. I am someone whom believes that a person should be paid for whatever they do… it is not just about musicians and recording artists. I am an advocate for fair pay across the board. These companies are no different than the majors by way of royalty structure – they are actually worse. They are robbing the aforementioned and know they can get away with it – why, because the consumer does not care about any of that… and neither does the artist.

Just to add… I also [heavily] blame the artists themselves – especially in Rap and R&B (Rock, Country, Folk acts DO NOT care if you know they are struggling and driving a 1990 Jeep Cherokee sleeping on the floor of a friend’s living room while they have an album out or are prepping to release one). You look at these artists whom most have never even heard of and they are wearing the most expensive clothes that money can buy. You hit their IG and they have Rolex, Cartier, and Richard Mille watches, rolls of cash/bands… always shopping… always “somewhere.” Some even are pushing very expensive whips. But they are not (I repeat NOT) making that bread from music – trust. It is all show and comes from somewhere else. It definitely is not coming from music downloads. Black folks have a problem with being real when they are always talking about “keeping it real” or “keeping it 100.” Find where they lay their head and then you know. Pull up to a spacious home or an apartment in the ghetto. What is the first thing ANY rapper does when they really make it (or any athlete) – they get up out of the ghetto/projects. That is the dream beyond making it, musically.

Everybody should sit down and take a lesson from the Legendary Roots Crew.

I saw someone above mention Cole, hes been touring saw him in concert in Atlanta long before his album came out. And if he was struggling I don’t think dollar tours would have been the way to do it. I always wonder if his boy Wale is still doing the volume of shows he used to. His hustle game was strong initially doing shows like his gogo cats did and his (what almost could have become his band UCB/UCE)

Side bar there, JT tours as JT and the Tennessee kids. Wale could have done the same with UCB.

You can’t use hood politics on someone who isn’t from the hood. Kanye was never about that type of life. He went into Rap has a creative and a businessman. Biggs got himself in the situation. If anything you gotta look at Dame sideways. Why is ya mans out here selling drugs and WEED at that! Lol like not even moving bricks but selling QPs of weed? Why not give him a job at Bluroc or Poppington or selling that dumb ass motor oil. Because none of those “hustles” are solid or lucrative enough for you to bring in another partner. The pot is already small enough that’s why you’re spreading yourself so thin. Don’t blame Kanye, look in the fucking mirror Dame.

I’m on Bob Lefsetz’s email blast and he’s been writing about how tech runs music for a couple years now. All his connects tell him how the worst thing to happen was Jobs connincing labels to let go of singles for .99… it’s been all downhill since for the music biz.

But listening to TRA reminds me of a more-connected, more in-the-know Lefsetz… Bob’s kinda annoying tho—i don’t need to read something from him 3 times a day. and I’m still not sure how he has all these connects, but he’s like the white TRA, but younger (?) and way less annoying.